Improvement in blowing-engines



4 Sheets-Sheet. 2..

1m. WEIMER.

BLOWING 4."NGII I TE S.v

No.181,29 5 Pa tented Aug.22,1876.

ILFEYERS PHOTWOGBAPHER. WASHINGTON, DV 0,

' 4 Sheets-Sheet 3. P. L. WEI MER.

BLOWING warms. v N0.181,295, Patented Aug..ZZ, 1876.

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*P. L. WEIMER.

BLOWING ENGINES.

N5. 131,295, Patented Aug.2-2,1876.

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UNITED STATES PETER 'L. WEIMER, 0E EBAnoN, EnnsYLvANIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN BLOWING-ENGINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 181,295, dated August22, 1876; application filed J u'ne 7, 1876.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, PETER L. WEIMER, ofLebanon, in the county of Lebanon and State of Pennsylvania, haveinvented certain Improvements in Blowing-Engines, of which the followingis a specification: i

The object of my invention is to produce a reciprocating blowing-engine,which can be run at a high speed, and under a high pressure, withoutdifficulty; and to this end theinvention consists in variousimprovements in the construction andarrangement of the "alves', thepiston, and various minor details, as hereinafter described andexplained.

Many attempts have hitherto been made to construct blowing-engines,which could be driven at high speeds against the high pressure of airrequired for furnace service; but notwithstanding the success which hasbeen attained in other high-speed steam machinery, the attempts toproduce high-speed blowers have resulted in failure, and consequentlythe most approved blowers of the present day are of a size, weight, andcost farexceeding other steam apparatus of equal power. In allexperiments with blowing-engines three great difficulties have beenencountered, viz., the impossibility of obtaining inlet and outletvalves of sufficient area to permit the free ingress and egress 'of theair; the impossibility of producing valves which would withstand therapid motion and the heavy pressure of the air, and at the same timepermit the air to pass freely, and the large amount of dead spaceexisting in the cylinder at the endof the stroke, preventing theeconomical working of the engine against high pressures.

Valves of various forms have been tested, among others, flap-valves,hinged at one side, lift or check-valves, having vertical guides, andvalvesof difi'erent styles, operated mechanically, with a positivemotion; but it'was found that the first two, in order to afiord a freepassage for the air, required to move so far that they could not openand close with sufficient frequency, and that owing to the distancewhich they fell the heavy pressure of air. drove them down with suchviolence upon their seats that they were soon destroyed, while the lastor positive-motion valve could not be made to open or close-withsufficient frequency or suddenness, nor to afford the required area ofopening for the inlet, of the air.

It is to overcome the dit'ficulties above enumerated that my inventionis intended.

The invention consists in the use of a valve provided with parallelslits or grated like a gridiron, arranged to rise and fall between aseat and a guard-plate of like form, whereby obtain a large area for thepassage of the air, render a slight movement of the valve sufficientto-open it to its full capacity, and give the valve a firm support, sothat it .is protected from destructive wear; in constructing seats orchests to receive the inlet-valves of less diameter than the cylinder,and extending them therein, and providing themv with valves in theirsides or edges as well as in the faces, whereby I compensatefor thespace occupied by the valve-seats, and obtain a valve area fully ornearly equal to the area of the piston, thus allowing the air to enterfreely and rapidly behind the receding piston; in arranging theoutletw'alves around the outside or circumference of the cylinder, andsurrounding the latter by a chamber, which receives the air and conductsit to a pipe leading to the furnace or other required point, whereby afree egress of the air is permitted and the employment of a largeroutlet-area allowed than when both the inlet and outlet valves areplaced in the cylinder-head; and in giving the piston a widesurface-hearing, and providing it with a wooden packing to preventleakage and reduce the friction and wear; and also in recessing thepiston in such manner that at the end of each stroke it fits down overand around the valve-chests and fills practically all the space in theend of the cylinder, whereby it is caused to expel all'the air, so thatthe engine can operate successfully and economically against a highpressure of air.

Figure 1 represents a longitudinal central section through my improvedengine; Fig. 2,

an end view of the same, with different portions taken in section, onthe various lines of Fig. 1 thereon indicated; Fig. 3, a sectional viewof one of the lower inlet-valve chests and valves, with the valves open;Fig. 4, a similar view, with the valves closed; Fig. 5,

R a perspective view of one of the upper valvechests and its valves;Fig. 6, a view of one of p the outlet-valves and its guard-platedetached;

Fig. 7, a view illustrating the form of the leather inlet and outlet.valves, the valves being shown detached from their seats; Figs. .8 and9, enlarged sectional views, showing more clearly the construction andoperation of the valves.

A represents the engine-cylinder; B, the solid reciprocating piston,mounted in the cylinder; 0 0, two hollow rings, bolted to the ends ofthe cylinder, and serving as seats for the outlet-valves, and assupports for the seats or chests of the inlet-valves; D, theinlet-valves; E, the seats or chests in which the inlet-valves aremounted; F, the outlet-valves; G, the annular chamber, into which theair is discharged from the cylinder through the outlet-valves; and H, apipe leading from the chamber G to the furnace or other desired point.

The construction of the valves, which constitutes the main feature of myinvention, is most clearly represented in Figs. 3, 4:, 5, 6, 7, 8, and9. Each valve consists of a flat leather sheet, of any desired form,provided, as shown in Fig. 7, with parallel slits a, like a gridiron,and mounted in such manner as to vibrate freely between a grated seat,I), and a grated guard-plate, c. The slits or openings in the threeparts are made of equal width, and the seat and guardplate arrangedparallel with each other, and at such distance apart that the valve canonly move a distance equal to one-half the width of the slits. The slitsin the leather valve are directly opposite the solid portion or bars ofthe seat, so that when the valve rests thereon it covers and closes theopenings, and prevents the air from passing through. The openings orslits in the guard-plate, however, correspond to or register with thosein the leather valve, so that when the valve is raised against theguardplate, as shown in Figs. 3 and 9, the air can pass freely inwardthrough the guard-plate, valve, and seat into the cylinder.

In practice, I find it best to make the slits or openings through whichthe air passes fiveeighths of, an inch in width, and to allow the valveto rise five-sixteenths of an inch; but it is obvious that this may bedeparted from, if

desired.

By the use of the grated seat-valve and guard, I obtain a very largeaggregate area of opening for the air to pass through,and thus permitthe cylinder to fill instantly when the engine is working at its highestspeed; enable the valves to open to their maximum capacity, and closeagain by a very slight movement, so that they can operate instantly andwith great rapidity, and without the usual noisy and destructivehammering common to valves having the usual long movement, and also givethe largest valve-leather support at points near each other over itsentire surface, thereby protecting it from destruction by the heavypressure of air to which it is subjected, and by which it-is drivenviolently back and forth. i

The essential feature or characteristic of my valve is the gratedleather, in connection with the corresponding grated seat, and a gratedor other skeleton guard-plate, and it is, obvious that the shape andsize of the-valve and the details of construction in other respectsmaybe varied at will.

In constructing my engine I arrange the inlet-valves to occupy theentire end of the cylinder, and locate the outlet-valves around theoutside or circumference of the cylinder, thus allowing room for valvesof ample size and area. The inlet-valves D are mounted in sector-shapedchests or seats E, such as represented in Fig. 5, which are seated inopenings in the cylinder-heads, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. As shown inthe drawings, the chests or seats have raised sides like a box, andvalves both in their faces and in said sides. The sides are formed withoutside supportinglips c at their upper edges, to rest upon thecylinder-heads and sustain the chests, which are inserted through theheads into the cylinder, in the manner represented in Fig. 1, so thatthe valves in the side walls of the chest, as well as those in the face,admit air directly into the cylinder, as indicated by the arrows. Bythus extending or sinking the valve-chests into the cylinder, andproviding them with the valves in their side faces or walls, I amenabled to obtain a greatly-increased aggregate area of inlet-opening, andto compensate for the obstruction offered by the valve-seats in thefaces, so that the air can enter freely and rapidly, and till thecylinder instantly when the piston is traveling at the highestattainable speed. The outlets for the air consist of parallel slits oropenings d, made in the rings (3, which latter serve as seats for theoutletvalves F. As shown in the drawings, the rings 0 are made hollow,or with an annular space in the interior. The slits or openings d extendfrom the interior of the cylinder through the inner side or wall of therings into their interior space, as shown. 1

The slottedleather valves F are inserted through large openings in theends of the rings and placed over the slits d, and then secured inposition by placing over them, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, slottedguard-plates ofa corresponding curved form, as shown in Fig. 7. Theseguard plates are held and forced up tightly in place by bolts 9 seatedat one end in the plates, and bearing at. their heads against the outerwall of the rings, as shown. The outlet-valves, seats, and guards areconstructed and arranged to operatein precisely the same manner as theinlet-valves, the only difference being that of form, neces-' sitated bythe different locations in which they are mounted. After the outletvalves and guards'are inserted, the openings in the ends of the rings 0are covered and closed by plates h, as shown.

In order to remove the valves it is only necessary to remove the platesand loosen the bolts 9, when the guards and valves may be taken out.

The outer walls of the rings 0 are of greater diameter than thecylinder, and have their edges provided with grooves, into which areinserted the ends of a sheet-metal drum or cylinder, K, of such diameterthat an annular space or chamber, G, exists between it and cylinder A,as shown. The drum K is provided on one side with a pipe, H, leading tothe furnace or other desired point. The air driven from the cylinder bythepiston passes through the valves F into the chamber G and thencethrough the pipe H.

The piston B is constructed, as shown, with a very wide surface-bearing,to reduce the wear and-prevent the air from leaking past it, and isprovided at its middle with a circumferential groove containing a woodenpacking, h, pressed outward by spiral springs against the face of thecylinder, the packing being prepared for use by a thorough boiling intallow. The faces of the piston are recessed and shaped to fit downover, around, and between the valve-chests, in such manner that at theend of each stroke it drives, practically, all the air from thecylinder, so that the full benefit of the stroke is realized, and theengine caused to operate effectively and economically when pumping theair at a high pressure.

The form of the piston, with its wide rim or periphery, its transverseribs to enter between the valx e-chests, and its thin body, combineslightness and strength in a remarkable degree, rendering it easy tooperate on account of its lightness, and durable on account of the largewearing-surface produced.

While I prefer to construct the engine in all respects as shown anddescribed, it is obvious that the arrangement of various details may bevaried without departing from the limits of my invention. It is alsoobvious that my improved valves may be used in engines of any otherconstruction, and in pumps for moving fluids as well as inblowing-engines.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is- 1. The combination,substantially as shown and described, of a grated valve, valve-seat, andguard-plate.

2. The combination of a grated valve-seat, a grated valve-guard, and agrated leather valve, arranged to vibrate between the seat and theguard, the slits or openings in the valve and guard being arranged tocorrespond or register with each other, while those in the seat arearranged to be covered or closed by -the leather, substantially as shownand described.

3. In combination with the cylinder A and piston B, the valve-chests orseats E, extendin g into the cylinder, and provided with inletvalvesboth in their faces and walls, substantially as shown and described.

4. The cylinder A, having the inlet-valves D located in its ends, andthe series of outletvalves 1! located around its periphery orcircumference, as and for the purposes described.

5. In combination with the cylinder A, provided with the series ofcircumferential outletvalves F, the annular surrounding chamber G,provided with a discharge-pipe.

6. The combination of the cylinder A, the hollow rings 0, provided withthe air-outlets or throats d, the valves F, and the curved valveguards,applied within the ring, as shown.

7. In combination with the cylinder A and the valve-chests 1, extendingtherein, the piston B, recessed and adapted to fit down over, around,and between the chests, as shown, and for the purpose described.

8. The piston B, constructed with the wide surface-bearing and therecessed faces, and provided with the circumferential wooden packing,substantially as shown.

PETER L. WEIMER.

Witnesses TOBIAS REINoEnL,

W. G. SANDS.

